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Cosmology
Cosmology Introduction The campaign world has a rich, but incomplete cosmology. Scientists in the world are not sure how many planes of existence or dimensions there are. Few of these dimensions are understood with any great degree, and a few are known only to a few individuals. Travel to these planes is possible, but in most cases is difficult. Orientation of the planes is complicated. The primary realm is surrounded by the elemental, paraelemental, and quasi elementalplanes. Several 'continuous' planes are clustered near the prime plane, their orientation to the various elemental planes determining rough features of them, of these 2 are known but more, perhaps infinite, speculated to exist. The magical field, arises from the intersection of all the elemental planes and permeates through the prime cluster. Stacked on top of the prime cluster are other planes, occupying the same cosmological space, but posessing a different energy density. All of these planes have a higher density than the prime cluster, thus these are the 'higher planes'. How many of these exist is unknown, however a few are known, these include the etheric plane, the astral plane, the spiritual plane, and the Causal realm or Mind realm. Travel to the higher planes is more difficult, and sometimes near impossible. The higher realms begin to see a fading of elemental planes as elemental planes densities do not extend as high as these. For example, the elemental plane of earth has density lower than the astral plane, hence the two do not intersect and as such, solid objects or immaterial in the astral plane and beings in it can pass through them unhindered. The elemental planes The various elemental planes include the normal 4, the para elementals, and the quasi elementals. These form the building block for the material in the prime cluster. Where these planes mutually intersect, forms the origin point from which the force of magic originates. The elemental planes are fairly easy to get to from the prime planes, but are extremely inhospitable. One can imagine few places less inviting than a plane of acid. Nevertheless, people do try to go to them, and some technomancers with particular powers have safely traveled to them. Despite this, few have been mapped to any extent, an exception being the plane of air, which is completely mapped Some of these planes are valuable for their resources, such as the plane of minerals and the plane of steam. Despite this value, they are still uncommonly harvested for materials due to the danger. The Etheric The Etheric is the second lowest energy density plane. It connects to all the elemental planes, but is differentiated from the prime plane by its density. This leaves the Etheric slightly less stable than the prime plane. The force of gravity is notably weak, and energy of being is far greater than in the prime planes. Objects in this plane are still bound to elemental components, so physical objects still posess density and can not be passed through, however beings and objects in this world have supernatural abilities, with flight being extremely common amongst inhabitants, and indestructability of some objects occuring frequently. The Etheric is the only non prime plane to have contact with all of the elemental planes. As such, it resembles the prime planes greatly, just with objects and beings posessing much higher levels of energy and thus appearing as magical godlike beings. The fact that this plane has contact with all the elementals allows for people to most easily travel to it amongst all the higher planes. While it is not completely mapped or understood, many realms are known inside of it. The Astral plane The Astral plane is the next highest energy plane. Unlike the Etheric, the Astral plane does not contact all of the elemental planes. Elemental planes of earth, and its related quasi and para elemental planes have too low of energy densities to contact the astral plane. As a result, no object in the Astral plane is solid. Some provid barrier to objects and beings, but only when they are sustained by some sort of force or higher density energy (such as spiritual energy). The astral plane is difficult for prime inhabitants to understand, but various concepts of heavens and hells originate with objects and beings in the Astral plane. Despite the apparent limitations, the astral plane is even easier to travel to than the Etheric. No one knows why exactly. Specifics on astral travel are handled in the Astral Projection page in the magic section. Roebells discovered a lot about astral travel, and it is thanks to him that so much of the astral plane is understood. All technomancers have some ability to travel in the astral plane, though few can astral project on their own. At a bare minimum, a technomancer, even with a 1 pt pool, could use a Roebells Devices to project through the astral plane as astral projection is the basis through which Roebells devices work. It is known that at least some non technomancers are also capable of astral projection though this is not at all understood. Certain plants and fungi have also been known to grant astral projection powers to shaman, once again this is not understood. The Spiritual plane The Spiritual plane is a realm of spiritual energy. It is the last known higher plane to have contact with elemental planes. It contacts positive and negative energy planes, the planes of air and fire, the para elemental plane of smoke, and the quasi elemental planes of lightning, vacuum, radiance and ash. It is a plane of spiritual energy and as such is inhabited by spiritual beings, reportedly also being a resting realm for the spiritual essence of deceased individuals. Very little is known about the spiritual plane. Some individuals have been able to travel to the spiritual plane, reporting it to be inhabited by beings of pure heat, composed entirely of radiant glows, and whispy tendrils of air. It has no comprehendable geography that anyone has identified, and communicating with individuals from it is difficult. Being of higher energy density than even on the astral or etheric planes, beings from this plane are exceptionally powerful, capable of astounding feats. Despite a lack of apparent features, it is known to contact with at least some elemental planes, so it must have some rough grographical features to it, they just seem to be undiscovered. The biggest problem with navigating it seems to be a lack of discernable features to normal people. It is odd that this plane lacks such, whereas the Causal Realm, a plane with no contact to any elemental planes, has some discernable structures. Perhaps this is an indication of intelligent design in the causal realm. Regardless, the spiritual plane connects to far more elemental planes than the causal realm, most people suspect at least 1 plane lies in between The Causal Realm The causal realm is the least known of the planes. At least one being knows about it, if there are more they havent revealed such. The realm is one of pure thought and infinite formless void. The elemental planes do not have density extension to the causal realm and so have no presence. Physical structure is meaningless in this realm, and little is known of it. As mental energy dominates the realm, imaginative structures do exist, sustained by the power of the mind of sentient inhabitants of the realm. The plane has few inhabitants though, and they do not seem aware of eachother, as they have never communicated. Communication of thought in this plane is instantanious from one mind to another. The geography of this plane is largely unknown. A few structures have been seen on the landscape; a small tower, an endless field of flowers, a cave beyond that, and a small house bordering the field opposit the tower.